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e_Marketing Blog Free Blog or Your Own Domain? Once you've decided to create your own blog, the first question you have to address is whether you want your blog to be hosted on your own web hosting account or be part of an already established site like wordpress.com, blogger.com, or one of the many other free blogging sites. If you use one of the free "hosted" blogging sites (Wordpress.com, Blogger.com, LiveJournal.com, Blog.com, and many more) you can create a brand new blog in about 15 minutes. When you choose this option you become part of a larger site such as wordpress.com and your address will be something like http://yourtownrealestate.wordpress.com or http://yourtownmoneymanager.blogspot.com The advantage of this approach is that it is fast and cheap. Plus you will get some traction and search engine exposure for your blog because it will be part of a much larger network that gets crawled by the search engines on a regular basis. But in my estimation, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. 2009 Will Be Pivotal for Microsoft 2008 has not been the greatest year for Microsoft, but they have still done surprisingly well in spite of the economic slowdown around the world. In an article from PCWorld called Microsoft's Top Three 2008 Mistakes, Shane O'Neill of CIO.com discusses some of the things that went well for MS, and some that clearly did not. In spite of aggressive marketing by Apple, Mac sales fell 1 percent over the year and Windows PC sales were up 7 percent. Microsoft's grip on the PC market remained firm - with 90% of users running Windows, and 70% of internet browsers using Internet Explorer. One has to think that the bad press MS keeps getting will have to impact these market shares eventually. Although it sure seems like both Apple and Firefox do not understand that their elitist attitude ("we're so much better and smarter than the other 90% of you") is an implicit criticism of the very customer they are trying to reach. 2009 will be a pivotal year for MS as they continue to try to beat off Apple, Google and Mozilla (Firefox). According to the PC Word article Microsoft's biggest mistakes for 2008 were: 1. Poor marketing of Windows Vista - They've been letting Apple get away with bashing Vista for years now. It's just not as bas as the critics say it is, and MS's own lack of promotion reinforces the idea that the critics are right. 2. Letting Apple Build Anti-Vista Momentum - Even though the sales figures may not yet show it in a convincing way, Apple has taken the marketing game away from MS with their constant Vista-bashing. MS has not shown that it can adequately respond. Expensive ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld missed the mark. Just recently I saw an ad touting the unique features of Vista in a straight-ahead way. It's about time. 3. The Failed Yahoo Bid - Early in 08 the bid for Yahoo looked like it might be a case of two search losers getting together. The failure of the bid did nothing for MS's image as a "winner" or a company forging into the future. As it turned out it was probably good for MS that Yahoo rejected their offer. Now Yahoo is worth a fraction of what MS offered, Jerry Yang, the big Yahoo opponent of the bid is gone, and new Yahoo investors are now courting MS. MS is still interested in Yahoo's search business, and may very well end up with it in 2009. Squidoo New Look Squidoo seems to have a new edit and publish interface. I've always found it a bit clunky in the past, but now it seems quite a bit easier to add modules. The process makes more sense to me. I just created a lense about Car Repair for a client. |
Linknet-News.com features news articles and news items in various categories including Health News, Real Estate News, Finance News, Marketing News, Business News, Entertainment News, Travel News, and more... Popup Display Design Tips and TricksFeb 26, 2006 - Linknet Product News Popup Display Design Tips and Tricks Feb 26, 2006 - Linknet Marketing NewsA PopUp Display normally covers the entire back "wall" of your space. This means that a properly designed PopUp Display provides you the opportunity to make a bold statement about your company and your most important product or service.  A PopUp Display not only serves as a backdrop to your display, but gives your area definition, and allows you to focus attention on a specific image. Well designed popup displays make a powerful statement about your product or service. Of course it is possible just to throw the popup up against the back wall, stick a table in front of it, spread our your brochures, and away you go. But you can do better than that. Pay special attention to the space requirements and the specifications of your popup display, then design your space around it. 1. Maximize the dramatic impact of the design First, since you want to maximize the dramatic graphic impact of your PopUp, you probably won't want to clutter the area directly in front of it. Yes, you have limited space to work with. But rather than putting a table directly in front of your most valuable asset (the PopUp), it is usually better to create two separate areas to either side. If you will be working the booth alone, then have a "distribution area" on the "incoming" side (the side most of the traffic comes from), and a "sales area" on the other side of your space. This will help both you and your visitors. They will be able to pick up brochures, samples, etc. from the distribution area without intruding on your one-on-one conversations taking place in the other area. This will give you a semblance of "privacy" -- as if this were possible at a trade show -- when you pitch your more important prospects If there are two of you working the booth, then you should have two self-contained sales stations -- one on either side. In other words, make use of your space intelligently. Don't clutter up the middle, if you can help it. 2. Focus on your "Primary Product Message" Your PopUp display should do double-duty as both a backdrop, and your most important vehicle for promoting your company's presence and your "Primary Product Message". Stand back from your display for a second and look at it from the perspective of the casual passerby. What is he or she most interested in? First, since she has come some distance to see a number of specific exhibits, chances are she is looking for a familiar name or logo. Don't disappoint. Use striking trade show graphics to display your logo prominently near the top of the display. That way it will be as visible as possible above the heads of the people standing in front.
3. Use a slogan 4. Use simple, bold graphics
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